Joseph Lapsley Wilson (September 17, 1844 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

– April 12, 1928 in

Merion, Pennsylvania Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower Me ...

) was an American railroad executive, author and horticulturalist. A

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

veteran, he wrote two histories of Philadelphia's

First City Troop The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, also known as the First City Troop, is a unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. It is one of the oldest military units in the United States still in active service and is among the most decorat ...

. Son of William Wilson, a merchant, he was educated at West Chester Academy in

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the 2010 census. West Chester is the mailing address for most of its neighb ...

. In 1862 he enlisted in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

, becoming a member of C Company Grays Reserves. He saw fire in July 1863 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania (north of Gettysburg). At discharge, he held the rank of sergeant. Following the war, he became secretary of the

Little Schuylkill Navigation, Railroad and Coal Company The Little Schuylkill Navigation, Railroad and Coal Company (LSRR) was a railway company in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania in the 19th century. The main line ran from Port Clinton to Tamaqua, for a total of . History The railroad received a cha ...

, a division of the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly calle ...

, which transported

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

from Northeastern Pennsylvania's coal region. He worked for the company for 38 years. 1 City Troop

In 1867, he was elected to the

First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, also known as the First City Troop, is a unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. It is one of the oldest military units in the United States still in active service and is among the most decorat ...

, the oldest continually-active military unit in the United States. Part of the

Pennsylvania Army National Guard The Pennsylvania Army National Guard, abbreviated PAARNG, is part of the United States Army National Guard and is based in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Together with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, it is directed by the Pennsylva ...

, he served as the troop's captain, 1889-1894, and wrote its centennial history in 1875. Forty years later, he revised and updated the history: ''Book of the First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry, 1774-1914'' (1915). He was a director of the Commercial Bank of Philadelphia, a member of the

Union League of Philadelphia The Union League of Philadelphia is a private club founded in 1862 by the Old Philadelphians as a patriotic society to support the policies of Abraham Lincoln. As of 2022, the club has over 4,000 members. Its main building was built in 1865 and ...

and of the National Republican League. He advocated for civil rights for Native Americans, and opposed American imperialism. In the late 1870s, he bought land in

, just over the Philadelphia city line. He built a mansion, "Red Slates", and turned the grounds into an arboretum, collecting more than 200 specimens of trees. In 1901, he married Caroline Alice Yates. In 1922, he sold the estate to Dr.

Albert C. Barnes Albert Coombs Barnes (January 2, 1872 – July 24, 1951) was an American chemist, businessman, art collector, writer, and educator, and the founder of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.“Biographical Note,” Albert C. Barne ...

, and he and his wife moved to a smaller house on the property. Barnes demolished the mansion to build his

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

, but preserved the arboretum. Wilson served as the arboretum's first director and as a Barnes Foundation trustee, until his death. Some of Wilson's trees still survive at the

Arboretum of the Barnes Foundation The Arboretum of the Barnes Foundation (5 ha / 12 acres) is an arboretum and the former site of the Barnes Foundation art gallery located at 300 North Latch's Lane, Merion, Pennsylvania, with entrance at 50 Lapsley Lane. Since 2018 the adjacent Sa ...

References

Sources

*Joseph Lapsley Wilson Scrapbook, Historical Society of Pennsylvan

*Joseph Lapsley Wilson Correspondence, 1922-1926, Barnes Foundati

*Joseph Lapsley Wilson Papers, First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. *Joseph Lapsley Wilson obituary,

Philadelphia Evening Bulletin The ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the United ...

, April 12, 1928.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Joseph Lapsley 1844 births 1928 deaths American railroad executives Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Businesspeople from Philadelphia People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War